Doing it her way: Christa Simmons
By Oluatoyin Alleyne
Stabroek News
May 12, 2007
At 21, Christa Simmons is already well on her way to achieving her life's goals.
The Den Amstel beauty is the reigning Miss Bartica Regatta, but that is not her greatest accomplishment. She considers it just another feather in her cap. Not the one she wore last year when she graduated with a degree in Sociology from the University of Guyana though; that is on another level altogether. Christa wears other hats, which include youth leader, and pageant committee member.
Christa also has an active social life and spends quality time with her family. Being the last of three children has seen her receiving a good dose of family support in her many endeavours.
Sitting down to have a chat with us at The Scene, Christa proved to be a young woman who is never short of words but one who is also careful before she answers a question.
She tells us that she has been modelling from childhood. It's no surprise to hear that she was one of those little girls who loved wearing fancy, flouncy dresses and preening in front of the mirror. Christa had no time for the grubby backyards and climbing trees. She won her first pageant at the age of ten, when she was crowned, Miss Den Amstel Primary. What a feat!
However, it took her exactly 11 years to win her next crown and that was when she grabbed the Miss Bartica Regatta title in March. And it was certainly not for want of trying. Christa had been part of the Miss Guyana Universe pageant last year and Miss UGSS in 2003. She had minimal success in those pageants as she placed fourth and third respectively. She sees her herself as a very competitive person who propels herself forward. This could be the reason she is a member of the President's Youth Awards and up to recently was the leader of the branch at Den Amstel. She is still the leader of the Region Three unit. She also helps to co-ordinate the Miss Dem Amstel Emancipation pageant.
According to Christa, when she first entered the Miss Bartica pageant she was confident that she would have won as she felt it was her time to win another crown. But then she saw her competitors and felt that she was up for a big fight until her biggest competition dropped out of the pageant for no apparent reason. "On the night of the pageant I felt I was doing everything right but I was not from Bartica and the crowd was behind the Bartica girl. But when I heard her name for second runner-up, I knew I had won," she said. When it was finally established that she had won, Christa recalled that she said, "Oh my God, I finally won it has happened," even as tears rolled down her cheeks. She knows the eyes of the Barticians would be on her, as they would want to see what she does for the community. She does not plan to disappoint as even though she has a full-time job at the National Insurance Scheme on the West Coast, she will give her weekends to the community. She has already signed up with the Regional Democratic Council to assist in any event it may be holding. She said the women of the community are interested in craft classes and since her mom works in the craft division of the Region Three Regional Democratic Office she plans to ask her assistance to have some of the women in that department to travel to Bartica and hold some classes. Also, she wants to work with the children in the area. Christa plans to leave a lasting impression on Bartica at the end of her reign, but she already has her sights on bigger things and we maybe hearing of her in the upcoming Miss Guyana World pageant. "But it's just maybe. I am thinking about it," she says with small smile.
Sharing more about herself, Christa tells us she attended the Stewartville Secondary School but later moved to the St Joseph High School where she got passed eight subjects at CSEC. She then did CAPE at Bishops' High School and from there she moved to UG. She's not finished with university though. Her sociology degree, is just another stepping stone as she hopes to be admitted as a law student come September. "I think I have a very good chance because I graduated with credit. So you would be hearing about me as a lawyer in another few years."
She said that because she did not do A-level law she was not admitted into the law programme at UG, so she opted to spend a year in the sociology programme from where she had planned to step over to law. However, after the first year, she was advised to complete the degree programme and she took it in stride and ensured she graduated with a good grade point average. While law is on her mind she does not regret having the sociology degree as she learnt quite a lot.
Christa says she likes teaching children and loves to have old people around her; children amuse and there is a lot to learn from seniors. And she does get to be around seniors a lot, since she is the pensions' clerk at her office. On pensions' weeks, she sees some 100 seniors a day.
She describes herself as an adventurous person, who, among other things, likes speed. "When I am travelling in a vehicle I like it to speed," she said with a smile. Her biggest fear is fear; we would never have guessed. Fear, she said, is what is preventing her from learning to swim. Her most recent attempt was during her visit to the Baganara Resort, a part of her prize for winning the Miss Bartica Regatta crown. "That is why when I am doing something I try to do it better than my best, as I am always fearful."
We just had to ask Christa whether she believes that there are too many pageants in Guyana. After thinking long and hard, she answers smartly that arguments could be made for both sides. According to Christa, young women learn a lot from pageants, which help build their self-esteem and they are given tips on how to improve their style of dressing and are exposed to more opportunities. She said those who would have won pageants that saw them travelling overseas to participate in international pageant would have been exposed to the wider world and would have learnt a lot. "It is good for young girls because they get to travel their country and learn about [it]. It may have been too expensive for them to do that before and once they get that knowledge it cannot be taken away from them," she says.
But on the flip side she admits that the many pageants put a burden on the business community and girls are sometimes sold short. She admitted that the members of the business community have complained about being asked assist in the sponsorship of too many pageants. This also contributes to meagre prizes and sometimes no prizes in pageants. She says she is still to get prizes from one of the pageants she placed in, in the past.
"It is sometimes not fair for young women to put in so much of work preparing for a pageant and at the end of the day they are not given what they are promised. It is really not worth sometimes," but she quickly qualifies this by adding, "Not all of the times though."
As Miss Bartica Regatta, in addition to the trip to Baganara, Christa also bagged $100,000, jewellery, a photo shoot and an evening outfit. And her sponsor Jack-up Stud Wine, a beverage associated with Jack's Record Bar has promised to assist her in travelling to Barbados for Crop Over in August and also to record a song, as she loves singing. samantha_alleyne2000@yahoo.com